Press Releases

Saturday night’s Top Rank on ESPN will include a ten-minute feature of ESPN boxing commentator Mark Kriegel at a recent meeting with famed boxing promoters Bob Arum and Don King. A preview of it will also air Saturday morning during the 8 and 10 editions of SportsCenter: AM.

Last night’s Top Rank on ESPN saw Oscar Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs) retain his WBO featherweight title against Scott Quigg while fighting under a canopy at the rainy StubHub Center, the famed outdoor boxing venue in Carson, Calif. south of downtown Los Angeles. The telecast includes two of 2018’s top five highest-rated fights on cable television in 2018, according to preliminary audience results from Nielsen. The Valdez vs. Quigg world championship fight aired live and exclusively on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and streamed live on the ESPN App.

Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN telecast, featuring Vasiliy Lomachenko successfully defending his WBO World Junior Lightweight title against Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1-0, 11 KO), delivered big on ratings and viewership, making it Saturday’s most-viewed telecast on cable television among men 18-34 and men 18-49, according to final viewership data from Nielsen Media Research.

Due to a technical error, a re-air of the title fight between boxing’s Cinderella Man, Jeff “the Hornet” Horn and Gary “Hellraiser” Corcoran did not air in its entirety last night on ESPN2. The WBO Welterweight championship fight will re-air at 6:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and is currently available to stream on the ESPN App.

Last night’s fight between Vasiliy Lomachenko (10-1-0, 7 KO) vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1-0, 11 KO), the biggest boxing match of the year, delivered big on ratings, making it the second highest-rated boxing telecast on cable in 2017, according to Nielsen overnight ratings. It was an electric, full house at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City that watched two of the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world, both two-time Olympic gold medal winners, battle it out for the WBO Junior Lightweight World Title. Lomachenko wowed with a sixth-round TKO.

The biggest boxing match of the year airs live on ESPN Saturday, December 9 from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Top Rank on ESPN will drop gloves just after 9 p.m. ET with a full slate of marquee fights on ESPN, ESPN Deportes on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App following the live presentation of the 2017 Heisman Trophy Ceremony. Two of the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world collide for the WBO Junior Lightweight World Title as champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (9-1-0, 7 KO) defends his belt against the unbeaten WBA Super Bantamweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0-0, 11 KO). Saturday’s fight marks the first time in boxing history that two-time Olympic Gold Medal winners will face each other at the professional level.

ESPN’s live telecast of the Saturday, November 11 Top Rank on ESPN (10:30 p.m. ET to 12:15 a.m. ET) scored two major victories. The overall telecast delivered 0.9 metered market rating according to Nielsen, making it the second highest boxing event on cable television in 2017.

Top Rank on ESPN debuted July 1 when Manny Pacquiao met Jeff Horn down under in Brisbane, Australia, resulting in the most-watched boxing telecast on cable television since 2006. Each of the four Top Rank on ESPN telecasts have been world championship fights, and they have delivered top tier ratings, scored big with Hispanic fans and led to significant Out-of-Home viewing.